Iceman at the Beach
by Iceman Bobby Drake
Summary: Set between X1 and X2 Bobby Drake goes on summer vacation with his family to the beach. And hates it. Fluffy BobbyRogue


Part I

Every summer, the Drake family went on a vacation to Myrtle Beach for a week. They rented a beach house, and spent all their days going boating, swimming, scuba diving, and any and all sorts of beach-related fun. It was what the family saved up for all year round; one of the few vacations they had to look forward to each year.

And Bobby hated it.

Florida was hot. In the middle of the day, it was swelteringly hot. And so Bobby would go out to the beach with the rest of his family in the morning, and return to the house as morning fell away into midday and the sun began to really burn everything it shined on. He'd stay inside until it started to get dark, and would then go out again to see the sunset and have some more beach time.

Bobby's parents and older brother didn't understand why he hated the heat so much. His Mother would often tease, "You freeze any room you walk into, anyway--I'm sure you could freeze the beach, too." For years Bobby had smiled at this, the family jokes that he was cold-blooded. But the summer before he'd started at Xavier's, such comments had made him incredibly uncomfortable. Because as he was beginning to realize, they were true. He really could lower the temperature in rooms, and do even more drastic things like freezing things when he touched them.

But he hadn't let on, and the summer following his first year at Xavier's, those same jokes had once again become funny. He couldn't help but laugh. It was like his own inside joke now.

"Come on, man. Don't leave me hanging with them." Ronnie pleaded half-heartedly as he finished tying his boots and stood.

Bobby grinned from where he sat on his bed. "Sorry," he said, shaking his head.

Ronnie threw a pillow at him before heading to the door of the bedroom they were sharing for that week. It fell into Bobby's lap, over the book he was reading. He tossed it back on Ronnie's bed. "Have fun with Mom and Dad!" He called after his younger brother as Ronnie left the room. Ronnie ducked back in long enough to give him the finger.

Bobby chuckled as he turned back to his book. Before he could find his place, though, his phone rang. He set the book upside down on the bed and leaned back against the pillows, reaching into his pocket for his phone. He glanced at the screen.

_'Rogue' _

_12:42_

"You have no idea how much I miss you."

"You have no idea how much I'd like to be there!" Rogue was smiling, and it came through the phone on her voice. Of course, the beach (any beach) would have been dangerous for the untouchable mutant, but a vacation away from this dreary New York spring and into the hot, humid southern coast would have made even her giddy with pleasure.

"You should be here. Not me. I don't even like the weather. It's way too hot." He'd spent most of the days inside, reading or watching TV. Which he could have done at home, or at Xavier's.

"It can never be too hot," she said and laughed. "You have to enjoy it for me. And see if you can find a sand dollar."

"I'll do you one better. I'll bring you a jellyfish." Bobby smiled and looked over to his bedside table. He'd actually already found a dead but still pretty starfish. He was drying it out and planned to give it to her when he got back. As well as a few big, colorful shells. And a couple more expensive gifts he'd found in the various souvenir shops around town.

"A jellyfish? Thanks but I'd rather you don't. Oh!" she suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "if you find boiled peanuts you HAVE to try some. Best thing on a hot day - boiled peanuts and sweet tea." Talking about the south, and especially sweet tea, always brought back her accent and this was no exception. He'd be lucky if he could understand her soon if they kept talking about boiled peanuts and humid weather.

It took Bobby a second to figure out what she was so excited about. As he laughed, he made a mental note to buy all the boiled peanuts he could find and pile the bags all over her room for her to find every now and then as a surprise. "I guess I need to see the South through your eyes. We should take a vacation sometime. I mean...Kitty and Pete and some other people could go." The way he said it, he left the option open for a bigger group. But it didn't mean he wanted one.

"Oh my gosh yes!" The country twang was starting to creep into her voice, "we could down to Missippi (she always shortened it when she spoke) and take a black swamp tour and get some good cooking! Not this bland yankee crap they keep feeding us up here. Honestly, polenta? Give me shrimp and grits everyday of the week and I'll be happy."

It wasn't often that Rogue got excited, but when she did the sassy southern belle came back full force and it was hard to get her to shut up. "The whole big group of us out gator hunting. That'd be fun - you could freeze the water, and Big Pete could just smash 'em over the head with a big metal fist." She giggled in an uncharacteristic way.

Bobby couldn't do anything but laugh and be amused at how excited she was--and how hard she was to understand. He caught her complaining about the food at school, and then he managed to hear most of the gator hunting idea - which made him laugh whole-heartedly, picturing it in his mind. "You're crazy. Besides, if you want to hunt gators, we don't have to go to Mississippi--just go down into the New York sewers."

"Puh, those are big snails compared to Missippi gators." She laughed a little, the imaginary vacation leaving her with a contented sigh. "But you are getting to experiance the southern lifestyle right? Your not just holed up in your room with the ac cranked up to full power and re-freezing your coke every chance you get."

"No!" Bobby said with fake indignance at her accusations. "...It's Mountain Dew." He glanced over to the bedside table. It really was; and she'd hit the rest of it right on the head.

"What else am I going to do? Sit under an umbrella on the beach while sand fleas crawl up my shorts?"

Rogue shook her head on the other end of the line, "its all coke. And sand fleas don't crawl up your shorts if you actually get into the water." Honestly, Icee needed to get out and do something southern! She didn't care so much about the beach as about the weather and the food. "You should go down to Cha-ston and take a tour or something. Go to the Fort. Drink a sweet tea. Ask for grits anywhere and tell me you don't think they are the greatest food ever invented."

"Go to--where? Cha-ston? Is that, like, a Chinese neighborhood? Chai...?" Bobby smirked; he was pulling her leg. He truly thought her accent was attractive. Had a kind of a sexy twang to it, especially when she got excited about something and just started talking on and on about it. Like she was now. "Alright. I will get sweet tea and grits. As soon as the sun goes down. And then I'll call you and tell you that they cannot be better than barbecued wings."

Well, barbecued wings were pretty good - he did have a point there. "Alright then, go get you some wings, and sit indoors so you don't melt like the wicked witch of the Westchester." She giggled again, "why is it that you went to Myrtle Beach and not some skiing mountain somewhere. They've got to still have skiing up in Canada somewhere."

"Because I'm from Boston? And we don't need to travel to see snow?" Bobby pointed out teasingly. "But, no. I don't get to pick where we go." Bobby said, as he pulled at a loose thread on the comforter. "We've been doing Myrtle Beach since I was three. I didn't spurt icicles back then."

"Awww, how did you ever survive the beach when you were three?" She teased. There was a pause on her side of the phone, and then a muffled "ok, I'm coming!" before she got back on. "Listen, Danger Room session I can't get out of just to up the long distance phone bill. Ya'll have fun down south, and don't melt or anything."

Bobby sighed. "Alright. I'll be back in a couple days. Say hi to John and everybody for me."

"I will. Say hi to the heat for me!" She giggled once more. "See you in a couple days. And don't forget to try the grits."

"I will. I'll miss you," Bobby said before pausing. "Love you."

Rogue smiled on her end of the phone. "Love you back," she said quickly and paused a moment, hating to be the first one to hang up, but knowing that if she didn't get to the Danger Room soon she'd be in trouble. "Um, bye." The phone clicked and she set it down carefully, as Bobby were perhaps inside it, before making her way smiling down to practice.

What seemed like a world away, Bobby hung up and dialed another number. "Hey, Mom? Can I borrow the car? I'm really hungry."

After a minute or two of arguing and warning him of what not to do with the precious rental, she relented.

"Where are you going?" his mother asked, almost as an afterthought.

Bobby paused for a moment, thinking back. She'd said anywhere… "Anywhere I can get some grits and buy a ton of boiled peanuts."


End file.
